Leslie Schover, Author of Fission: A Novel of Atomic Heartbreak

Today I’m joined by Leslie Schover, clinical psychologist turned novelist and author of Fission: A Novel of Atomic Heartbreak.

Set during the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Fission explores love, ambition, secrecy, identity, and moral conflict at a moment when the world was being reshaped—both scientifically and emotionally.

Drawing on her parents’ lived experiences and her own deep understanding of relationships, Leslie brings a uniquely human lens to one of history’s most consequential chapters.

1. From Family Stories to Historical Fiction
2. Fission is rooted in the stories your parents told about life in Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project. When did you first realize these personal memories could become a novel—and what shifted for you in turning family history into fiction?
3. Atomic Power and Emotional Fission
4. The title Fission works on so many levels—scientific, emotional, relational. How did you think about the parallel between splitting the atom and the fractures within marriage, identity, and moral responsibility?
5. Doris Friedman: Ambition, Identity, and Constraint
6. Doris is such a complex character—a young mother, a frustrated artist, a woman navigating marriage, ambition, antisemitism, and gender expectations in the 1940s. What drew you to tell the story through her eyes, and what does she represent to you?
7. Psychology, Secrecy, and Relationships Under Pressure
8. As a clinical psychologist, you’ve spent decades studying relationships, sexuality, and identity under stress. How did that background shape the way you portrayed marriage, desire, betrayal, and resilience in a world defined by secrecy and existential fear?
9. Moral Ambivalence and Legacy
10. By the end of the novel, Doris and Rob are left with pride, guilt, love, and doubt—having helped save the world and also put it at risk. What questions do you hope readers sit with after finishing Fission, especially as we think about scientific progress and ethical responsibility today?

As someone who returned to fiction after a long and impactful career in psychology and healthcare, what would you say to creatives who feel it may be ‘too late’ to return to an earlier calling?